Transitions

Generally, summer slides in slowly around these parts. It gets warmer, the rains are more sporadic, and every once in awhile, the clouds part and these glorious blue skies spread out above us like a silk tablecloth.

Generally.

But this  year summer has been for us (and perhaps the rest of the country) anything but a slow slide. Instead, it’s been kind of herky-jerky like a teenager learning to drive a stick-shift. When the rain came down so fierce and complete on Friday evening, I thought for sure any hopes of a warm summer were washing down the drain with all the water, but then Saturday and Sunday opened up to something beautiful and green with such a smell of freshness in the air, my little doodle nostrils almost stuck open in flare mode.

I know this might be a stretch, but the passage (acceptance) of gay marriage around the country has felt very much like the weather patterns of the Pacific Northwest. First there’s all this rain –doom and gloom that the sun will never return — and then the angels sing, the clouds part, and these glorious days of fresh air, bright greens (from all the rain), and brilliant blue skies surprise us.

For awhile, all of us at this household didn’t think marriage would ever be an option, but then New York stepped up and those blue skies of hope wagged their tail at us once again.

My moms have been together for nine years. They’ve raised me as their son for the past four. While they are considered domestic partners in Washington State, they are still not allowed to marry, which means that if one of them (dog forbid) to die, they could not receive the others Social Security. That might seem like a small thing to you, but as they grow older (they are both 52 years old), it’s beginning to mean more and more.

And then there’s the whole thing about not being recognized as a married couple.

Anyway, the point is that the transition to summer around these parts has felt a lot like the transition to acceptance. One day you think the rain will stay here forever (that the right to marry will not happen in your lifetime) and the next day there are 2 million people happily celebrating in the streets of New York City. Wow.

You just never know when those blue skies will brighten your day!

Onward and Upward,

Rubin

PS: Here are some more dog photos from our happy, surprising week!